Cam system for automatic jacquard flat knitting machines

ABSTRACT

A CAM ASSEMBLY FOR A DOUBLE LOCK SYSTEM IN A JACQUARD FLAT KNITTING MACHINE. THE NEEDLES, THE MAIN JACKS AND THE AUXILIARY JACKS ARE GUIDED BY A NEEDLE GUIDE PLATE, A MAIN JACK GUIDE PLATE AND AN AUXILIARY JACK GUIDE PLATE, RESPECTIVELY. GUIDE CAMS FOR THE TRANSFER AND RECEIVING OF STITCHES ARE LOCATED AT EACH END OF THE MAIN JACK GUIDE PLATE, THE ADVANCING CAMS OF THE MAIN JACK GUIDE PLATE ARE CONSTRUCTED IN TWO HALVES FOR STITCH AND LOOP FORMATION, AND THE AUXILIARY JACK GUIDE PLATE INCLUDES AT EACH END THEREOF RUN-IN CAMS WHICH PERMIT ADDITIONAL SELECTION OF MAIN JACKS THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF THE AUXILIARY JACKS.

Sept. 20, 1971 a. GOLLER EI'AL 3,605,450

CAM SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC JACQUARD FLAT KNITTING MACHINES Filed March 24, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 wgn & Q & R

l/vmvrok' Eh. I WW f 4...]

E. GOLLER El'AL Sept. 20, 1971 CAM SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC JACQUARD FLAT KNITTING MACHINES Filed March 24, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 m m n w Emil Sept. 20', 1971 E. GOLLER ETAL CAM SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC JACQUARD FLAT KNITTING MACHINES Filed March 24, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 lNVENfOR ,Y b o V N United States Patent 015cc 3,605,450 Patented Sept. 20, 1971 3,605,450 CAM SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATIC JACQUARD FLAT KNITTING MACHINES Ernst Goller, Pfullingen, and Karl Essig and Helmut Mutschler, Reutlingen, Germany, assignors to H. Stoll and Company, Reutlingen, Germany Filed Mar. 24, 1969, Ser. No. 809,825 Claims priority, application Germany, Mar. 23, 1968, P 17 60 025.8 Int. Cl. D04b 7/04 US. Cl. 66-78 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cam assembly for a double lock system in a Jacquard fiat knitting machine. The needles, the main jacks and the auxiliary jacks are guided by a needle guide plate, a main jack guide plate and an auxiliary jack guide plate, respectively. Guide cams for the transfer and receiving of stitches are located at each end of the main jack guide plate; the advancing cams of the main jack guide plate are constructed in two halves for stitch and loop formation; and the auxiliary jack guide plate includes at each end thereof run-in cams which permit additional selection of main jacks through the medium of the auxiliary jacks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to Jacquard fiat knitting machines of the kind comprising opposed needle beds and a carriage having, in association with each bed, a system of double looks including a transfer mechanism whereby needles in one bed are enabled to transfer stitches to needles in the opposed bed, and vice versa. In particular, this invention relates to an improved arrangement of needle and jack guide cams for such a machine.

Such an assembly of double locks with a transfer mechanism was developed in the 1930s and is described, for instance on page 358 and in Figure 1 of the book Wirkereiund-Strikerei-Technik (publishers Verlag Prost & Meiner, Coburg). The structure of this widely used assembly was compact, and the machine produced a very effective stitch formation and type of knitting. However, machines of this type have been fairly limited in their range of application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thus, it is a purpose of the present invention to increase the range of stitch connections possible with one lock, or for one stroke of the carriage, without concurrently increasing the size of the existing machines or their individual elements such as the lock, slides, needle beds, Jacquard cards, etc.

This purpose is achieved in accordance with the present invention by providing guide cams for the transfer and receiving of stitches which are associated with a main jack guide plate section at each of the opposite ends of the assembly. In accordance with another feature of the invention, the advancing cams of the main jack guide plate sections are divided, for stitch and loop formation, such that the said advancing cams are adapted to effect additional and selected advancement of the needles. Further in accordance with another feature of the invention, there is provided, in association with the auxiliary jack guide plate section of the assembly at each end thereof, run-in cams which permit additional selection of the main jacks through the medium of the auxiliary jacks in advance of the preceding advancing cams for the stitch and loop formation.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved cam assembly for guiding needles and jacks in a Jacquard flat knitting machine.

It is another object of this invention, to provide in a cam assembly for a Jacquard flat knitting machine, an arrangement wherein the advancing cams are divided into a plurality of individual cams for the selection of additional jacks.

It is another object of this invention to provide, in a cam assembly, of a Jacquard flat knitting machine, an arrangement wherein guide cams for the transfer and receiving of stitches are located at opposite ends of the main jack guide plate.

It is still another object of this invention to provide, in a cam assembly for a Jacquard flat knitting machine, an arrangement wherein means are provided at each end of the main jack guide plate for receiving and transferring stitches.

It is still another object of this invention to provide, in a cam assembly for a Jacquard flat knitting machine, an arrangement including an auxiliary jack guide plate, including additional run-in cams at each end and a central group of cams therebetween, which central group of cams are divided into a plurality of individual cams for selecting additional main jacks through the auxiliary jacks.

Other objects and the attendant advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description to follow, taken together with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS There follows a detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention to be taken together with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that this description is provided only for purposes of illustration.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the double lock cam system associated with the front needle bed of a flat knitting machine of the kind concerned and shows the conventional construction hitherto adopted.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the double lock cam system constructed in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a system corresponding to FIG. 2, but illustrating the paths of the needles, the main jacks and the auxiliary jacks as they pass through the system in the production of three different stitch formations.

FIG. 4 is a plan view similar to FIG. 3 but indicating a different setting of the cams in the system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIGS. 2 through 4 of the accompanying drawings, like numerals are used to represent like elements throughout. In FIG. 1, which shows the prior art, those elements which correspond with the elements in FIGS. '2 through 4 are given the same numerals except in FIG. 1 the numerals are in the one hundred series.

In FIG. 1, the upthrow cams, the Wing cams and the guard cams in the plate Na of the needle-actuating guide plate section, Ha of the main jack-actuating guide plate section and Hi of the auxiliary jack-actuating guide plate section are designated 101 through 110, and in FIGS. 2 through 4, corresponding elements are labeled 1 through 10.

In FIG. 1, the upthrow cams and the guard cams 113, 114 and 113, 114', respectively, for receiving and transferring stitches, are provided on the needle cam plate Na, and the main jack cam plate Ha is provided with further stitch transfer cams 115 and 115. In the conventional construction, the cams 113 and 114 are used only for stitch reception and are provided on the lefthand side of the plate Na, and cams 113 and 114 are used only for stitch transfer and are provided on the right-hand side of this cam plate.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the parts of the cams shown hatched in FIG. 2, are capable of being projected outwardly, and thereby brought into position for operation or retracted into the plate and thereby rendered inoperative. The selection of which cams are to be rendered operative depends upon the requirements of the knitting operation, and the means for projecting or retracting the cams is well known and is not shown in the drawings.

In contrast to the prior art, and as shown in FIG. 2, in accordance with the present invention, like or mirror image cams are provided at both ends of the needle cam plate Na, these cams being sub-divided into three parts, 12, 13 and 14, in such a manner as to define an additional channel 25 between the cams 12 and 13. This be comes effective as a stitch reception channel, where there is an appropriate lock setting of the system, while a channel 26, defined between the cams 13 and 14, serves as a stitch transfer channel.

In addition, guide and guard carns 15, 16, 17 are associated with the main jack plate Ha at each entry to the advancing or guard cams for the stitch and loop forming cams 1, 3. Moreover, the advancing cams 1 of the main jack plate Ha are divided into two halves 1, 1' and therefore provide for a later further selection of the needles by the main jacks. Further, there are associated with the auxiliary jack plate Hi, a group of cams 18 to 21, and at opposite ends of this group, upthrow cams and wing earns 22 to 24 which are simultaneously effective as run-in cams. The arrangement permits of additional selection of the main jacks through the medium of auxiliary jacks in advance of the first knitting system 1 to a similar function is fulfilled by a division of the central advancing cam 20 of the auxiliary jack cam plate Ha into a number of parts 20, 20', 20" for the subsequent knitting system 1 to 5.

The operation of the arrangement described will now be described with respect to FIG. 3 in which it is assumed that the carriage moves in the direction of the arrow, i.e. from right to left and hence the needles and jacks move from left to right relative to the cams. The parts of the cam system which have been hatched in FIG. 3 are retracted into the plates so that they have no effect on the butts of the needles or jacks. Needles 30 are introduced into the system between cams and 14 and are thereupon advanced by cam 12 to clearing height. Thus needles 30 which are offered stitches from the needles of the opposite needle bed, receive such stitches at the clearing height determined by cam 12, whereupon all the needles 30 are brought back to the original level by the needle Wing cam 6. The main jacks 31 a $0 istributed by the Jacquard card (not shown in the drawings) that the alternate ones assume the operative position, that is to say the position shown at 31'.

On the other hand, the auxiliary jacks 32 require to be distributed by the Jacquard cards in such a way that following three jacks 32 in the base, i.e. inoperative position, there is one jack 32 in the operating position, then one in the base position, and another again in the operating position, whereupon this sequence of distributtion is repeated. Since the upthrow cams 2, 3 on plate Na and cams 16, on the main jack plate Ha are out of action, in the preceding system only the needles 30 which transmit the necessary shifting movement for forming stitches, the auxiliary jacks 32' selected by the Jacquard card, and the corresponding main jacks 31 reach the most advanced position. Thus the selected auxiliary jacks 32', advanced by the upthrow cams 22 of the auxiliary jackplate Hi, strike their associated main jacks 31 and bring these into the range of the cam 1 of the main jack plate Ha which cam, in cooperation with cam 3 of main jack plate Ha, advances the main jack 31', and also the associated needles 30 into the clearing position preparatory to stitch forming. On the other hand, the selected main jacks 31' not engaged by auxiliary jack 32 on the other hand, are advanced by cam 1' of the main jack plate Ha only sufficiently for the associated needles 30" to reach the tucking position and consequently only to form tuck loops. Finally, those needles 30 which have neither been advanced by a main jack 31 or through the agency of an auxiliary jack 32, remain in the starting position in which they were brought by the wing cam 6, as described above, and thus form no stitch whatsoever. In the next succeeding cam system, the process described is repeated in the same sense, whereby again stitches are formed through the selected auxiliary jacks and, through the agency of the selected main jacks, tuck loops are formed and the unaffected needles are made inoperative, as a result of which the yarn is laid and floats behind the previously formed stitches at these points.

FIG. 4 shows the locks for the front needle bed, again with the carriage moving in the direction of the arrow from right to left, but with a setting of the cams of the run-out jack plate Ha which is different from that of FIG. 3. It is apparent from this illustration that in the preceding cam system described above in connection with FIG. 3, stitches are formed through the agency of selected auxiliary jacks 32 and tuck loops are formed by selected main jacks 31 which are not engaged by jack 32. In runout lock, however, all the needles affected by selected auxiliary and/or main jacks 32', 31' are used to form stitches, While in both locks the needles which have not been affected either by auxiliary or main jacks remain in the base position and consequently lie behind in both locks.

Modifications of the setting of the individual cams on the needle, main jack and auxiliary jack cam plates Na, Ha, Hi, in both locks produce individual types of stitches by the use of appropriate combinations.

It will be understood by those acquainted with the art that when, in the foregoing description, the elements designated by the numerals 30, 31, and 32 are referred to as needles, main jacks and auxiliary jacks respectively, what is, in fact, meant is the butts with which the stems of these needles and jacks are provided.

Although the invention has been described in considerable detail with respect to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be apparent that the invention is capable of numerous modifications and variations apparent to those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A double lock cam assembly for a Jacquard flat knitting machine comprising: a needle cam plate having cams arranged to effect movement of needles of the knitting machine, a main jack cam plate arranged to effect movement of the main jacks of the knitting machine, and an auxiliary jack cam plate arranged to effect movement of auxiliary jacks of the knitting machine, said cam plates extending generally parallel to each other, and the cams of the said plates being arranged symmetrically about a transverse plane which passes through the center of all of said plates; said needle cam plate including, on each side of said transverse plane, needle cam means for acting on the needles to permit the needles to move upward from a reference position, by a predetermined amount to a clearing position preparatory to forming a stitch, or by an intermediate amount less than said predetermined amount to a loop tucking position; the said main jack cam plate including, on each side of said transverse plane, main jack cam means for acting on the main jack, said main jack cam means having means for forming a first channel and a second channel, such that the main jacks passing through the first channel cause their associated needles to move from said reference position to said clearing position, and such that the main jacks passing through the second channel cause their associated needles to move from said reference position to said tucking position; said auxiliary jack cam plate including, on each side of said transverse plane auxiliary jack cam means for acting on the auxiliary jacks causing them to act on the main jacks to determine whether the associated main jacks will pass through the first channel or the second channel; said auxiliary jack cams means being arranged to act on the auxiliary jacks such that the auxiliary jacks act on their associated main jacks before the main jacks reach the said first and second channels of the main jack cam means.

2. A cam assembly according to claim 1, wherein said cam means of the main jack cam plate comprises a set of guide cams located at each end, each set being constructed for transferring and receiving stitches.

3. A cam assembly according to claim 1 including, at

each end of said needle cam plate a group of three cams, the group at one end being a mirror image of the group at the other end, the three cams of each group forming two passages, one being a stitch reception channel and the other being a stitch transfer channel.

4. A cam assembly according to claim 1 including a central group of cams on said auxiliary jack cam plate between said auxiliary cam means, said central group of cams constructed to act on additional auxiliary jacks to act on additional main jacks.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,521,786 9/1950 Granov 6670 3,304,748 2/1967 Seller 6664 RONALD FELDBAUM, Primary Examiner 

